Curious about what's going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun?
Don't fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend.
Friday, July 27: S*Punk, a Sadisco sExperience @ Chasers
The party monsters of local DJ collective Sadisco* aren't shy about their utter devotion to industrial music.
They're slaves to the cacophonous grind of relentless electronically driven mayhem, brutal guitar hooks, and dystopian lyrics about dark lords and demons that only bands like Nachtmahr, Unter Null, and Fractured Transmission can deliver.
Rivethead faves such as these have been featured at practically every Sadisco* party since the collective's founding in 2004, and this weekend's S*PUNK! is no exception. The sexually ambiguous event (which likely is to feature manties and other revealing outfits being sported by both male and female attendees) is being held in conjunction with the Eternal Legends of Metropolis Records Tour and will star Midwestern industrial madman Caustic and hard-charging trio Everything Goes Cold. Mess & Phetamine, the raucous side project of Sadisco* czar Squalor, also will perform.
Earplugs are necessary; manties are optional. -- Benjamin Leatherman
Friday, July 27: Ava Luna @ Sail Inn
You know that business about not judging a book by its cover -- or, in the music equivalent, an indie-rock-looking band by its press photos? Ava Luna proves the truth of the old sentiment.
At first glance, the New York septet appears bound to sound like Arcade Fire or Freelance Whales, but sonically, this septet bears little resemblance to those groups. Instead, it takes classic soul as an influence, combining that silky, sweet form with fluttering vocal harmonies from a trio of female singers and economical synthesizer lines. The entire product is treated with a most careful hand, showing off Ava Luna as the new royalty of sensual minimalism. --Reyan Ali
Saturday, July 28: oOoOO @ Crescent Ballroom
Goth-pop pixie oOoOO is a terrific soundtrack for when club night in Ibiza gets rained out by hellfire. Both 2010's oOoOO EP and this year's Our Love Is Hurting Us are dance music for social maladjusts; they're dusky, palely moonlit fantasias enlivened by synths that churn like Bernard Hermann and characters that hunger for interaction as ravenously as Travis Bickle.
In a candid interview, oOoOO (who asked that we not print his real name) spoke to Phoenix New Times about Lil B, autism and unfilled desire.
New Times: Your last EP, Our Love Is Hurting Us, was almost two years in the making. Why the wait? And are you ever concerned about being forgotten in these hyper-accelerated times? oOoOO: That's just how long it took me to gather a few tunes I like. The fear of being forgotten in hyper-accelerated times seems to produce some of the worst music out, so I try to avoid that sort of thinking. People just throw shit out there for consumption constantly with no sense of quality control. There's already so much garbage out in the world, I'd hate to add to it.
I've read your work described as Blondie's "Heart of Glass" on Ketamine. What do you make of that description? It seems fairly accurate to me. Yeah, Blondie for less optimistic times. Blondie for introverts. Blondie with autism.
"TryTry" is the scariest shit I've heard in forever. Do you make a conscious effort to evoke menace? To me, the driving emotion behind that song is frustration; the sound of unfulfilled desire. At the end of the song, there's a slight moment of release. But it quickly fades into nothing before it can be fully realized as satisfaction. I guess that is a menaced emotional state, but not in a horror movie kind of way. A very personal kind of menace. --M.T. Richards (Read the full interview.)
Saturday, July 28: Sochu Saturdays with DJ Organic @ Sochu House
See also: DJ Organic on The Hot Plate, Crate Digging, and His Mom's Record Collection See also: Johnny Chu Dishes on What Americans Don't Get About Chinese Food and Why He Doesn't Have a Favorite American Dish
Star chef Johnny Chu has wasted no time making Sochu House the place to be seen. He's considerably upping the ante by bringing in DJ Organic for his Saturday night special.
Boasting crates of choice vinyl, Organic is keeping it simple for his Saturday night residencies.
"My music of choice for the night is '80s r&b/soul/funk/disco/boogie," Organic says, "which I don't think has fully caught on out here. I know that downtown Phoenicians looking for a Saturday lounge with great music, food and drinks will want to come down."
The exciting menu and funky vibes should make for an excellent Saturday night. -- Jason P. Woodbury
Sunday, July 29: Ravi Coltrane @ The Musical Instrument Museum
Despite the famous last name, and the fact that he plays the same instrument as his father, Ravi Coltrane, son of jazz icons John (sax) and Alice (piano), doesn't pretend to be anything more than just a saxophonist. He could claim rights of royalty or expect open doors, but such notions would only diminish the music he proudly produces.
"You know, the saxophone, like any instrument, requires a lot of discipline to try and please other people and meet other's expectations," he says with a laugh over the phone from New York City.
"For me, that [expectation] was never part of why I was playing or chose the music I was playing or followed the musicians I followed. It's not for me to internalize someone else's idea or expectation. ... All I'm trying to do is play some music and be who I am, much in the same way as John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane. They were not imitating somebody else or trying to anything more than be who they were."
While there are some noted similarities in Coltrane's tonal playing and freeform expression, every saxman alive gleaned something, consciously or not, from the elder Coltrane, who died when Ravi was just two. That said, Ravi Coltrane earned his chops working as a sideman, admittedly with some of his father's cohorts--Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and others. It's likely a leadership role could have materialized at anytime, but, he stresses, the music was more important than fame.
"You have to pay your dues. It's going through the process. It's not even a bad paying your dues," he explains. "I enjoyed it, being a sideman. I got here [New York] in 1991 and I knew I had a lot to learn. The learning process never ends, but clearly the foundational years were very very important. I had a lot of important opportunities to work with real contributors here. It only made it easier when I got to do my thing. ... For me the transition from primarily a sideman to primarily a leader, I was not in a rush for that." -- Glenn BurnSilver (Read more about Ravi Coltrane.)
